Inclined railway.



. A. F. & A. T. SMITH.

INGLINED RAILWAY.

APPLIOATION rum) JULY 7,1909.

955,217. Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

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WITNESSES UVVENTORS v I I JflenfldmzZ/z 1 flgyin 167222771 ANDREW B.GRAHAM co. PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHERS. WASHINGTON. D. 0

' ATTORNEYS.

A. P. & A. T. SMITH.

INGLINED RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7,1909.

955,21 7. Patez lted Apr. 19, 1910.

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WITNESSES IIVVENIORS p fllbegf6mzliz Q 7 n. c mum" l WMAM co.wum-umonmpnms. wnsnmmou A. P. & A. T. SMITH.

INGLINBD RAILWAY.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY '7, 1909.

Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

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INI ENTOHJ .b may Fawn/i? A TOHNE Y S WITNESSES ANDREW av GRAHAM c0.FHOTO-UTHOGRAPHERS, WASHINGTON. m. a

is srrns ATNT rron ALBERT F. SMITH AND ALVIN '1. SMITH, OF LONGBEACH,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO NATIONAL AIRSI-IIP SPIRALWAY COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

INCLIN ED RAILWAY.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBERT F. SMITH and ALVIN T. SMITH, both citizensof the United States, and residents of Longbeach, in the county of LosAngeles and State of California, have invented a new and Im- A practicalembodiment of the invention is represented 1n the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification, in which similar characters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the inclined railway; Fig. 2 is a planview of the same, the revolving top of the tower for the spiraldown-track being omitted and the driving shaft for the said top beingshown in section; Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the inclinedrailway; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the upper endof the structure partly broken away; and Fig. 5 is a cross section ofthe same on the line 55 of Fig. A.

The track of the improved inclined railway is preferably madecontinuous, and consists of an inclined up-track A, a spiral down-trackB and a return-track C, connecting the lower end of the clown-track Bwith the lower or beginning end of the up-track A. On the continuoustrack mentioned is adapted to travel a suspended car D, as plainlyindicated in Fig. 1, and the passengers traveling in the car D embarkand disembark at a station E, located at the junction of the lower endof the up-track A with the return-track C.

The up-track A and the return-track C are built on a suitable frame-workF, and the down-track B is mounted integrally on the tower Gr, providedwith a revolving top Gr, preferably illuminated by electricity or othersuitable means. The lower end of the downtrack B and the beginning endof the uptrack A are approximately on the same hori- Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed July 7, 1909.

Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

Serial No. 506,307.

Zontal plane, and the return track C is preferably made undulating, asplainly indicated in the drawings, and the connection between the returntrack G and the Lip-track A is preferably in the form of a loop C,located immediately above the similarly-constructed station E, as shownin Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The up-track A is provided with the usual haulingchain H, adapted to engage the suspension means of the car D, to haulthe car up the inclined up-track A to the summit thereof. The car D onreaching the summit passes out of engagement with the hauling chain Hand now travels onto and down the spiral down-track B by its ownmomentum, the car D- during this downward travel on the down-track Bswinging into an inclined position relative to the vertical, as plainlyindicated in Fig. 1, by centrifugal force. The car D on reaching thelower end of the down-track B passes onto the returntrack G and travelsforward on the same by the momentum acquired during the down ward travelon the down-track B, so that the car readily travels forward on theundulating track G around the loop .C to the lower end of the Lip-trackA.

Below the return track G is arranged a friction stop and guide rail I,under the control of the operator in charge of the railway at thestation, so as to check the speed of the returning car and to bring thesame to a standstill at the station E, for the passengers to disembarkand for new passengers to embark for the next journey.

The hauling chain H is propelled by suitable mechanism driven from amotor J, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, the driving connection beingpreferably at the upper end of the chain H, which passes at this pointaround a sprocket wheel K, secured on a transverse shaft L, connected bybevel gear wheels N and N with a vertical shaft 0 driven from the motorJ by a reducing gearing P, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

On the shaft 0 is secured a sprocket wheel Q, connected by a sprocketchain Q with a sprocket wheel Q fastened on the shaft G forthe'revolving top G of the tower Gr, so as to revolve the said top Gwhenever the inclined railway is in use, that is, when the motor J isrunning and the hauling chain H is traveling, to haul the cars up theinclined up-track A, as previously explained.

It will be seen that by the arrangement described, the passengers in acar are carried up the up-traek A, and in doing so approach therevolving top G of the tower G, and then the car during its downwardtravel on the down-track B swings outward by centrifugal force, thusrendering the ride in the car exceedingly interesting and exciting.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1. A railway having a continuous track, and a car suspended from thesaid track and adapted to travel thereon, the said track having anLip-track, a spiral down-track, a return track connecting the lower endof the said down-track with the beginning end of the said up-track, anda tower supporting the said down-track, the latter being exterior of thetower.

2. A railway having a continuous track, and a car suspended from thesaid track and adapted to travel thereon, the said track having anup-traek provided with powerpropelling means for moving the said car upon the tip-track, a spiral down-track, a return track connecting thelower end of the said down-track with the beginning end of the saidLip-track, and a tower having a revoluble top driven from the said powerpropelling means, the tower eXteriorl-y supporting the saidclonal-track.

3. A railway having a continuous track, a car suspended from the saidtrack and adapted to travel thereon, the said track having an tip-track,a spiral down-track, and a return track connecting the lower end of thesaid down-track with the beginning end of the said up-track, the saidlower end of the downti.'ack and the beginning end of the said rip-trackbeing approximately in the same horizontal plane, and a friction stopand guide rail for engagement with the bot tom of the car to check thespeed thereof, the said rail being arranged below and following thecontour of the said return track.

4:. A railway having a tower provided with a revolving top, and aninclined uptrack leading to the said tower immediately below the saidtop.

A railway having av tower provided with a revoluble top, a continuoustrack having a spiral portion surrounding the tower and an inclinedportion leading to the tower below the top, a car suspended from thetrack and traveling on the same, means for moving the car up theinclined track, and means for revolving the top of the tower from thecar operating means.

(3. A railway having a tower provided with a revoluble top, a spiraltrack on the outside of the tower, an inclined track lead ing to theupper portion of the tower below the top, an undulating return trackconnecting the spiral and inclined tracks to form a continuous track, acar suspended from the track and traveling on the same, means for movingthe car up the inclined track, and means for revolving the top of thetower from the car moving means.

7. A railway comprising a tower, a spiral track on the outside of thetower, a frame work at one side of the tower, an inclined tracksupported by the frame and leading to the upper portion of the tower, areturn track connecting the lower ends of the spiral and inclined tracksto form a continuous track, the connection between the return track andthe inclined track being in the form of a loop, a car suspended from thetrack and traveling thereon, and means for moving the car up theinclined track.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT F. Shililll. AL IN 'l. SMITH.

lVitnesses F. A. Kxioirr, CAROL SHEPHERD.

